33 KILLED AT BURDEN PARK-WERE LESSONS LEARNED?

A bumper crowd gathered at Burnden Park on this day (March 9th) in 1946, with the chance of watching, home club,  Bolton Wanderers play Stoke City in the Sixth Round of the FA Cup. Wanderers were already 2-0 up, in a season when the FA Cup was in its Sixth Round, the only season when the Cup was played over two legs!! Stoke City, at this time, meant that the very famous Stanley Matthews was playing and over 50,000 spectators were expected, but at least 85,000 turned up! The "Bolton Evening News" noted that the game was "irresistible to football lovers of the North. There were all the signs of great Cup tie enthusiasm and a spirit of great humour. When the teams emerged from the "tunnel",surges in the overcrowded Embankment Stand caused thousands of spectators to lose their feet and fall onto the crush barriers which collapsed under the weight. Chaos as many were suffocated and others just crushed. Thirty-three spectators were crushed to death and over 500 injured. Despite this, the match was played after a short interval, fearing that a cancellation would cause further chaos.

The investigation revealed that a father trying to escape the crush with a little boy, broke open the gate and the desperate crowd poured in unaware of what was going on inside. Within minutes, the "glorious day" quickly became the biggest football tragedy. Some fans that had jumped barriers to get into the stadium were blamed but the government enquiry chaired by R. Moelwyn James KG, concluded that the "unauthorised entry was a factor but not the only one." 

It was believed that 2,000 people over the "safe" capacity had gained entry into the "Embankment Stand" and Hughes opined that "if a lower number of people had been allowed into the stand" then the disaster would not have happpened. It was noted that several stands and turnstiles were not open, creating bottle necks and numbers entering the stadium were not recorded. Hughes announced that numbers entering stadia, especially for big occasions, should be monitored mechanically. His recommendations, however, were not backed up by legislation, as clubs had "the option" to ignore them! The culture of complacency continued for four decades afterwards, a culture betrayed by events at the FA Cup Semi-Final in Hillsborough, Sheffield in 1989!!

MARCH 2nd FOOTBALL LEAGUE COMES INTO BEING

 On March 2nd 1888, William McGregor, a Scot and Director of Aston Villa FC, wrote to the Chairmen of Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion with a "bright idea"; "Every Year it is becoming more and more difficult for football clubs of any standing to meet their friendly engagements and even arrange friendly matches...I beg to tender the following suggestion as a means of getting over the difficulty. It is that ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange home and away fixtures each season. This combinatiion might be known as the "Association Football Union". My object in writing to you at present is merely to draw your attention to the subject and to suggest a friendly conference to discuss such the matter more fully...how would Friday March 23rd 1888 suit for a friendly conference at the Anderton's Hotel, London?

The meeting went ahead with representatives from Accrington, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Stoke FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers also in attendance. It was decided to call the new venture, The Football League-NOT the English Football League, as it was hoped that at the time Scottish Clubs would also join or be encouraged to form their own "League". At a second meeting on April 17th, the League was formally founded and within 5 months, it was up and running, with 12 clubs. 

McGregor's Aston Villa racked up FIVE League titles by the turn of the century.

The First Football League (1888-9) was won by Preston North End (P22, W18, D4, L0, F74 A15 Pts 40.) Remember the FA Cup was already in competition, since 1872.

FROM CAFE GIESLA TO SKY SPORTS

Today, it is "back to the turn of the century, Bavaria" where the German powerhouse, FC Bayern Munich was formed in 1900 at Café Gisela in Munich, by 11 members of the football division of MTV 1879 Munich, led by Berlin native Franz John. They broke away due to disagreements with the club's gymnastics-focused management regarding joining the German Football Association (DFB).

Believe it or not, Germany's most successful football club started life as a Gymnastics Club and they have come a long way since the days of somersaults and dives (no we are not talking about Jurgen Klinsmann's spell at the club) as they boast having a trophy cabinet that contains more than twenty domestic titles and every other trophy available in and out of Germany. 

Ninety-nine years later, actually on Feb 27th, 1999,  AND......

 v                                               is the first competitive pay-per-view (PPV) football match to be broadcast on Sky Television. However, there was the birth of a less welcome part of football, as Sky Sports showed their first ever pay-per-view game. For only £7.95, every kick, throw-in and dodgy corner of Oxford United's First Division match with Sunderland was yours. Unfortunately there were no goals for all those punters who "splashed the cash" as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw!! 

DONNARUMMA and A CARLING CUP FINAL

Italy footballer Gianluigi Donnarumma was born On Feb 25th. He made his debut for his national team in 2016 and eventually earned 77 caps.

On February 25th, in 2001, Liverpool looked to be climbing out of their mid-90s "slump" when the club picked up the first piece of silverware for six years by winning the League Cup. Liverpool beat Birmingham City, who took Liverpool to penalties and became the first English Cup Final to be settled by penalties.

In 2007, the Football League Cup final, was played between London rivals, Chelsea and Arsenal in a lively affair at the Millenium Stadium, the final fixture played there before such important Football events returned to WembleyStadium, following its refurbishment. Chelsea were making their fifth League Cup Final appearance to Arsenal's sixth!

Didier Drogba, Man of the Match, scored two goals for the Blues, following Arsenal's lead enabled by Theo Walcott's first goal for Arsenal, in an incident-packed match which involved a lengthy stoppage in play as John Terry was knocked unconscious by a boot from Abou Diaby. An injury time "brawl" saw Emmanuel Adebayor sent off, by Howard Webb, in a bad tempered clash that was reaching it's "climax". Here's a programme!!

CHELSEA'S ROUTE TO THE 2007 FINAL

Round	Opposition	Score
3rd	Blackburn Rovers (a)	2–0
4th	Aston Villa (h)	4–0
5th	Newcastle United (a)	1–0
Semi-final	Wycombe Wanderers (a)	1–1
	Wycombe Wanderers (h)	4–0
Key: (h) = Home venue; (a) = Away venue.

AND ARSENAL's

Round	Opposition	Score
3rd	West Bromwich Albion (a)	2–0
4th	Everton (a)	1–0
5th	Liverpool (a)	6–3
Semi-final	Tottenham Hotspur (a)	2–2
	Tottenham Hotspur (h)	3–1
Key: (h) = Home venue; (a) = Away venue.

PARk JI-SUNG

Park Ji-Sung is a South Korea footballer, who was born February 25th, 1981 in Goheung, South Korea. Son is 45 years old. His mother, Myung-ja, worked in a Korean metals' factory. Son married Kim Min-Ji in 2014. The couple has one daughter, Yeon-woo. 

Park was a busy, reliable and tactical midfielder, playing famously for Manchester United, from 2005 to 2012 before transferring to Queens Park Rangers and later becoming one of the most decorated Asian soccer players ever. He joined the South Korean national team in 2001 and was named captain of the team in 2010. 

Before his fame, he began playing soccer in elementary school and was recognized as one of the brightest young stars in South Korean athletics. He became widely renowned for his defensive play and was named KFA Footballer of the Year in 2010. He joined the Queens Park Rangers under manager Harry Redknapp. Age 45 years old.

STANLEY MATTHEWS

Stanley Matthews, arguably one of the most famous footballers "ever", died on February 23rd in 2000. He was my hero, following his impressive playing and character during the 1950s and beyond, I followed his career, once I was old enough to appreciate his performance. He was as famous as any footballer in the World, especially during his "pomp". He died on this day in 2000 and the streets of Stoke were lined with thousands of locals and his ashes were buried under the centre circle of Stoke City's Britannia Stadium. 

I had the privilege of meeting him on a couple of occasions, after his playing career but when he was still a true celebrity. He was a true legend of the game, playing in top flight football in England up to his 50th birthday, when still playing for his "home club" Stoke City.  The "Potters" was his home club and he made the move to a more "ambitious" club at that time, Blackpool. Having played for the "Seaside" club for most of his career, he evenually decided to "fade out" gracefully going back to Stoke for his final years.

Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) played at "outside right". That might need explaining to some youngsters out there! At the time, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing football, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards. His nicknames included "The Wizard of Dribble" and "The Magician".

Matthews kept fit enough to play at the top level until he was 50. He was also the oldest player to play in England's top football division (50 years and 5 days) and the oldest to represent the country (42 years and 104 days). He was an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 to honour his contribution to the English game. He was never booked in his 33 year long career.

Matthews spent 19 years with Stoke City, playing for The Potters from 1932 to 1947 and again from 1961 to 1965. He helped Stoke to the Second Division title in 1932-3 and 1962-3. Between these two spells at Stoke, he spent 14 years with Blackpool, where, after being on the losing side in the 1948 and 1951 FA Cup Finals, he helped Blackpool to win the FA Cup with a formidable personal performance in the "Matthews Final" of 1953. Matthews was as famous as any footballer today and many would have cheered Blackpool's 4-3 victory over Bolton Wanderers at that time. Even some of the Bolton lads would have felt the importance of that victory....from 1-3 down, Matthews inspired a superb victory.

In 1956, he was named the winner of the inaugural Ballon d'Or, a prize given to the best European footballer each year. Between 1934 and 1957, he won 54 England caps, playing in the FIFA World Cup in 1950 and 1954, and winning nine British Home Championship titles for England.

Following an unsuccessful stint as Port Vale's general manager between 1965 and 1968, he travelled around the world, coaching enthusiastic amateurs. His experiences included coaching in South Africa, where, despite the harsh apartheid laws of the time, he established an all-black team in 1975 in Soweto known as "Stan's Men". 

He was never booked in his 33 year career!  

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1932–1947	Stoke City	259	(51)
1947–1961	Blackpool	379	(17)
1961	→ Toronto City (loan)	14	(0)
1961–1965	Stoke City	59	(3)
1965	→ Toronto City (loan)	6	(0)
Total		717	(71)
International career
1929	England Schoolboys	1	(0)
1934–1956	The Football League XI	13	(2)
1934–1957	England	54	(11)
1947–1965	United Kingdom	3	(0)
Managerial career
1967–1968	Port Vale

FLOODLIGHTS at FRATTON

The pioneering souls at Fratton Park, yes, the Portsmouth Home Ground, were able to install floodlights in their stadium on this day in 1956. I have to announce that I saw my first professional game of football at Fratton Park, after the floodlights had been installed, in daylight around 1958. Yes, I was only a "nipper", and sadly it was not an evening match. When floodlit football was introduced to the hardly Hampshire fans (and their opponents), it was on this day  and inevitably there was trouble with the fuses! The hardy, Hampshire fans had to put up with a delay of 30 minutes but the game got going and Pompey "played up" winning 2-0 over Newcastle, who had come the length of the country, in February, to witness a defeat! Football had lodged itself into the mainstream of popular "culture.

Fratton Park is the club's ground in Portsmouth. Constructed in 1899, it has been the only home ground in Portmouth' F.C.'s history. The stadium's location on Portsesa Island makes it the only professional English football ground not located on the mainland of Great Britain!!. 

It's shown below and modernised from my original memory! 

AND....the....Stadium Background: Designed by Alfred H. Bone and opened in 1899 on a former potato field.

The first match at Fratton Park took place on September 6th 1899, a friendly between Portsmouth and Southampton, resulting in a 2–0 win for Portsmouth. It was watched by 4,141 spectators, Goals were scored by Dan Cunliffe and Harold Clarke. The first competitive match was on 9 September 1899, a 2-0 win over Reading in the Southern League Div One.

Subsequent developments included the pavilion in 1905, capacity expansion in 1935 and floodlights in 1956, making it the first ground in England to stage an evening Football League match under artificial light. Its maximum capacity has been reduced to 20,867 since it became an all-seater ground in 1996. Several relocations plans proposed during the 1990s and 2000s failed to materialise.

Fratton Park is affectionately nicknamed "The Old Girl", "Fortress Fratton" and "PO4" (an abbreviation of its PO4 8RA postal code) and has a reputation for high attendances and a powerful atmosphere, similar to that of larger capacity stadia.